There is going to be a lot of activity in the defense sector in the new year. The Defense Ministry has declared 2025 as the Year of Reform. Explaining which issues will be focused under this Year of Reform, CNBC-Awaaz’s Laxman Roy said that the Defense Ministry has declared 2025 as the Year of Reform. This year the focus will be on purchasing new equipment in defence. The process of defense procurement will be simplified. Public private partnership will be promoted in the defense sector. Also, there will be focus on technologies like cyber, space and artificial intelligence.
The Defense Ministry has said that focus will also be on establishing India as a ‘reliable exporter’ of defense products and encouraging public-private partnerships. In the meeting of all Defense Secretaries, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said that the ‘Year of Reform’ will be ‘crucial’ in the modernization of the armed forces.
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said, “It will lay the foundation for unprecedented progress in the country’s defense preparedness and ensure the nation’s security and sovereignty amid the challenges of the 21st century.”
The industry can expect greater collaboration among all stakeholders in the defense ecosystem, as a renewed focus is expected from the top level. The reform efforts are aimed at transforming India’s armed forces into a technologically advanced, combat-ready force capable of multi-domain operations, the ministry statement said.
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The central government has also set an ambitious target for defense exports by 2029. Addressing officials at the Army War College (AWC) at Mhow Cantonment in Madhya Pradesh on December 31, Ranjath Singh said, “Our defense exports were around Rs 2,000 crore a decade ago. Today it has crossed the record figure of Rs 21,000 crore.” We have set an export target of Rs 50,000 crore by 2029.”
He further said that unconventional methods like information warfare, Artificial Intelligence (AI) based warfare, proxy warfare, electromagnetic warfare, space warfare and cyber attacks are posing a big challenge.